Reds vs. Padres Saturday Prediction
The Reds have been one of the streakier teams in baseball over the past two weeks but they’ll look to win their third straight Saturday night in San Diego. Are the Reds a worthy money line play for bettors against the Padres tonight at Petco?
Game Snapshot & Odds
963 Cincinnati Reds (-117) at 964 San Diego Padres (-105); 7 runs
Saturday, April 20, 2019
8:40 p.m. ET, Petco Park, San Diego, CA
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Public Betting Trends
According to our MLB Public Betting Chart page, 61% of the betting tickets are on the Padres to beat the Reds on the moneyline.
Cincinnati Reds Fantasy Spin
Joey Votto is not in the Reds’ lineup versus the Padres on Saturday. Outfielder Jesse Winker will also take a seat. The Reds and Padres played 11 innings last night so they will take the opportunity to rest a couple of starters today. Kyle Farmer will play first base in place of Votto. Matt Kemp will play left field and bat cleanup. Luis Castillo will toe the rubber for the Reds.
San Diego Padres Fantasy Spin
Fernando Tatis Jr. homered, walked twice and stole three bases against the Reds on Friday. Tatis walked and immediately stole second and third with Eric Hosmer up in the 11th inning. He went on to score, but the Padres were down two at that point and ended up losing the game. Tatis had been 1-for-2 stealing bases as a major leaguer coming into this one. If he remains aggressive on the basepaths, he’s probably a top-10 fantasy shortstop.
MLB Betting Trends
Cincinnati
The Reds are now 4-1 in their last five games against the Padres.
San Diego
The Padres have dropped five straight games.
Prediction:
I loved the Reds a lot more before I saw that Votto wasn’t in the lineup tonight but they still provide value nonetheless. Eric Lauer has been an average pitcher through four starts this year and 23 outings a year ago. He allows 46.4% hard contact and is a fly-ball pitcher. Even without Votto, the Reds should have enough offense to support Luis Castillo, who owns a 33.3% strikeout rate while limiting hard hits to 20.4%. He has struggled with walks this year but didn’t last season, so if he gets that under control he will be truly dominant. At just -117 on the money line, I like the streaky Reds.
The Pick: Cincinnati Reds -117